New Version May Be First With Direct Injection, Could Be Assembled in Europe

We've driven Chrysler's excellent new Pentastar V-6 in many forms, from the Jeep Grand Cherokee to the 2013 Ram 1500 and many others. With the introduction of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, the U.S. is seeing the first non 3.6-liter variation with a 3.2-liter engine that will likely be used in other applications such as the next-generation Chrysler 200 sedan and next-generation minivans, among other applications.

But according to Chrysler enthusiast website Allpar, a version even smaller than the 3.2 could be production bound, but it's not certain that it will be offered in the U.S. market, at least not in naturally-aspirated trim. A 3.0-liter version of the corporate V-6 is reportedly under development for the European market. That would taxes on engines with displacements above 3000cc.

The smaller 3.0 could potentially replace the 3.6-liter engine in European-market Grand Cherokees, and other products that currently use the engine. To make up for the 20-percent-smaller displacement, the 3.0 reportedly could be the first Pentastar to receive direct fuel injection, something that was reportedly in the plans for the Pentastar from the beginning, but was temporarily shelved to keep costs down. Adding DI would give the engine a slight power and fuel-efficiency bump over port injection. Since U.S. Pentastar manufacturing capacity is currently running full-throttle, the 3.0 could be manufactured in Europe.

However, the U.S. market could see a 3.0-liter Pentastar in the form of a turbocharged, high-performance Cherokee SRT, reportedly producing as much as 400 hp.